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Bay Bridge reopens Sunday night ahead of schedule

OAKLAND - Thanks to clear skies, the westbound Bay Bridge reopened Sunday, more than a day ahead of schedule, according to Caltrans.
Good weather and teamwork by contractors allowed the first car to cross the bridge at 7:15 p.m. Sunday, almost 34 hours early, said Caltrans spokesman Bart Ney.

Drivers crossing the westbound span will see new paving and lane striping for a quarter-mile after the toll plaza.
The road now also curves left sooner after the toll plaza, although the turn is not as sharp as the S-curve, Ney said. The road moved between 30 and 40 feet.

In addition to the paving, striping and guardrail work, contractors were also able to finish all the demolition work they could have done this weekend, Ney said.

"It's like a face-lift is being done to the Bay Bridge while we have it closed," Ney said Sunday morning.

Caltrans closed the westbound span of the bridge at 8 p.m. Friday, and it was scheduled to reopen at 5 a.m. Tuesday. The eastbound span remained open all weekend.

The closure boosted traffic on BART and the Golden Gate Bridge, officials said.

"The weather was a real big determiner of this work," said Greg Allen of MCM Construction, particularly the paving work.

The most difficult part of the closure was the preplanning and coordination, Ney said. The next time Caltrans plans to shut down the bridge is Labor Day 2013, when the new $6.3 million spans are scheduled to open.

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In December, Caltrans contractors began stringing the cable over the new 525-foot tower for the self-anchored suspension span. When finished, that 2.6-foot-wide cable will weigh 5,291 tons.